Breakfast was pretty uneventful at first. Then, Millie's grandpa spoke up. "Millie... if you don't mind me asking, where were you last night. I fell asleep before you came home, so you must've been out for a while. What were you doing out so late?" He asked.

Millie gulped. "I was just... at Oscar's house. Kinda lost track of time." Millie said. She smiled, hoping he would buy it. He didn't.

"Girlie... you know if you have anything going on, anything at all... you can tell me... right?" He said. "Of course I know that!" Millie responded.

"I know you've been... distant lately, and I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I've been worrying about you a lot... since Christmas... I just... I don't know how to help you if you don't tell me what's going on." Millie's grandpa said, glumly.

This made Millie feel ashamed for lying to him. It was for his own good, he probably couldn't handle the truth. He would think she's crazy. She wanted their relationship to be a good one, but if she kept lying to him, it might put them back where they began.

Before she had time to say much else, the bus arrived. "I'm sure we can talk later, but I have to leave. Love you, grandpa! See you after school!" Millie said, trying her hardest to sound as happy as she could.

Her grandpa sat there and worried about what she was hiding. Maybe he should check her room? No, that would be an invasion of her privacy. If she wanted to tell him, then she would come to him herself.

***

"Yo, Glen!" One of the football team members called out to Glen as he was getting his jersey on. Glen looked over at the team member, Jacob. "Yeah?"

"After the pep rally, Lydia was having this party at her house. You interested?" Jacob asked. If Glen was being honest, he really wasn't, but what did Jacob care? He would be too busy getting drunk and getting in Lydia's pants. How could he notice if Glen was there or not?

"Yeah, I'll be there." Glen said. Jacob patted him on the shoulder as he walked past him. "Good man." Glen sighed heavily.

You just have to put up with this crap until you get a scholarship, Glen. He was by himself in the locker room. That at least gave him time to think. He always liked being alone. People always inconvenienced him, told him what to do, made him join this stupid team. He had to give up a lot of things he enjoyed doing to be on this team. He had to be mean to others beneath him.

After a while, he actually started to become who he was pretending to be. That girl, Millie... he's been bullying her for quite a while. Sure, she's weird, but she didn't deserve it. When Christmas break was over and she hit him... it really made him think back to the days before football, before the popularity, when he had real friends. He didn't think he'd ever have anything like that again. He sighed heavily as he put on his helmet and went outside for the pep rally.

***

"Attention, all freshmen students, please report to the gym for the pep rally." The principal said over the PA system. Millie's class all got up from their seats and made their way to the gym. Millie went away from the group and went through the crowd to get to her locker. She got all of her stuff and started to make her way outside while everyone else was distracted, not noticing Hannah watching her leave.

Millie waited behind the school, thinking about the plan she had to come up with for everyone else. She thought about everything they needed to do. The most important thing was finding that warehouse that Jake and Andrew talked about. More than anything, they needed to be prepared, so weapon shopping was a must. They also needed to learn how to use said weapons after buying them.

She then remembered that they talked about a "weird science guy" that built the Stitchwraith body for them. So, last night, she did as much research as she could on notable scientists in Hurricane. She did find one result that peaked her interest: a man named Phineas Taggart. No one knew why, but he was known to collect animatronics and other objects from Fazbear entertainment. Why he did this was a mystery. A little over a year ago, he was found dead in his laboratory. Luckily, she was able to find the address of the building he used to work at, so they should probably go there and ask anyone who knew him what he was up to.

Lastly, when Millie researched what Andrew told her about being in a warehouse about a man exploding, she looked back at the incident when William Afton died inside of a distribution center owned by Fazbear entertainment. That had to be the man that Andrew was talking about. If that was true, then only one person could answer her questions about what happened: Arthur Blythe, the priest that took Afton to the distribution center. She saw his name in the news article and knew that if he was the sole witness to what happened, then he would have the answers she needed to understand what was happening.

She looked over to see Mandy joined by Dylan and Raj walking over. "I'm glad I remembered where the meeting spot was." Dylan said. "Where's everyone else?" Millie asked.

On cue, Isaac and Brooke walked over. "I told you this was the meeting spot, idiot!" Isaac complained. "Well sorry! I thought she meant outside on the other side of the school!" Brooke said, defensively. Oswald, Abby, and Oscar turned the corner.

"Finally found the right spot." Oswald said. "So... everyone's here, right?" Abby asked. "Looks like it." Dylan said with a nod.

"Alright, Millie... since we're all here, what's the plan?" Isaac asked. Millie was lost in thought before refocusing on the group. Now's not the time to daydream, she thought. She turned over to the group.

"First thing's first, we need to be prepared. We need to do some weapon shopping." Millie said. Everyone was a little shocked to hear that.

"Millie, I understand this is the best way to kill that bear, but we're not really the gun shooting type." Oscar said. "Yeah... my dad would never let me hold a gun." Oswald said, nervously.

"That's fine. If you don't want to use a gun, use an alternative, like a machete or an axe." Millie said. "I don't have the arm strength for an axe." Brooke said.

"Then, we're just gonna have to train ourselves to use the weapons we want to use. We need to find a nice, wide open space as a weapons range." Millie said.

"Well, there is a clearing just about a mile outside of town. Oscar and I used to go there all the time." Raj said. Isaac nodded. "He's right. We can show you where it is."

"Good. That's where we're gonna have to learn how to handle the weapons we're gonna use." Millie said. "Well, where exactly are we gonna find weapons?" Mandy asked.

"There's a gun store just downtown. It sells guns, knives, machetes, traps... basically all the stuff we need." Dylan said.

"How do you know all that?" Brooke asked, slightly concerned. "My dad used to work there." He responded.

"Great. We'll go there, get all the stuff we need, and before we start preparing, we have to talk to a few people." Millie said.

"Who?" Mandy asked. "People who knew a scientist named Dr. Phineas Taggart. His lab used to be in a factory. Some of the people who work there might know a thing or two about what he was doing. We also have to talk to a priest named Arthur Blythe." Millie said.

"Why are these people important?" Oswald asked. "Yeah, I don't see how a few factory workers and a priest tie into this." Oscar said.

"Maybe the priest is supposed to help us exorcise Funtime Freddy!" Raj said, excitedly. Isaac snapped his fingers and pointed at Raj, a look of realization on his face.

"That's a good point! We could probably use that!" Isaac said. Millie put her hand on her forehead and shook her head. "No, no one's exorcising anything. We need to talk to him because he was there when Afton died, and we might get a few clues on what exactly happened."

"But I wanted the power of Christ on our side!" Raj whined in disappointment. Oscar chuckled. "Using guns sounds way more fun." He said.

"Well, I guess that question is answered, but that still doesn't explain why Dr. Tart-"

"Dr. Taggart." Millie corrected in an annoyed tone. Mandy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. That doesn't explain why he's important." She pointed out.

"He's important because he's the one who made the Stitchwraith in the first place." Millie said. Everyone was shocked by that revelation.

"Wait, he's behind all this?!" Oswald practically shouted. "No. My guess is that he didn't know that the Stitchwraith would do the things it did. Jake and Andrew didn't really understand it, but we still need to know why he made the Stitchwraith." Millie answered. "So... how do we go about this?" Dylan asked.

"Simple, we all go to the gun store, get whatever weapons we need, and find a place to keep them until we're ready to use them." Millie said.

"There's an old shed near that field we were talking about. No one ever goes in there. It'll be the perfect spot." Isaac said.

"Good. Alright, here's what we're going to do, once we get the weapons, Oscar, Dylan, Mandy, and Raj will take the weapons and put them in that shed." Millie said. Oscar nodded. "Got it." Mandy replied. "Wait, why just us?" Dylan asked.

"I'm getting to that. While you're taking the weapons to that shed, Isaac, Abby, and Oswald will go to that factory and ask around for anyone who knew Dr. Phineas Taggart. Once you find someone who does, ask them questions about what he was studying, what sort of things he collected, why he collected them, just stuff like that." Millie said.

"You can count on us." Isaac said, proudly. "No she can't." Abby said. Isaac sent a deadpan expression her way. Oswald rolled his eyes and spoke up. "We'll get it done. With us doing that, I'm gonna guess you and Brooke are going to talk to that priest guy?"

Millie nodded in response. "I don't know, Millie... priests make me nervous." Brooke said, sheepishly. "I'm sure he's not that bad, Brooke." Millie said, reassuringly.

"Now, with all that out of the way, any questions?" Millie asked. Abby raised her hand. "Yeah, I really think we need a team name." She said. Everyone else groaned. "We've been over this! We don't need a team name!" Isaac said, irritated. "I'm just saying it would be pretty cool if we had one!"

***

The crowd cheered as the speech finally came to a close. Glen stood there with the rest of the team looking at the cheering crowd. He waved and fake-smiled as the marching band played.

"GLEN."

He flinched after hearing a voice whisper in his ear. Glen looked over to his other teammates. It wasn't Jason, Tyrone, Samuel, or any of the others who whispered to him. It didn't sound like them either. So, who was it?

"GLEN."

He scanned the crowd and saw nothing unusual. He then looked towards the doors leading to the outside of the gym. There, he spotted a woman, looking directly at him. Something about her was off. Her crimson hair was tied up into twin pigtails, her skin looked like it had way too much sunscreen on, and she wore makeup that made her look like a clown. Just looking at the woman gave Glen a weird feeling. No, not because of his hormones, but instead, a weird feeling of... fear.

While everyone was getting dismissed, she motioned for him to walk over to him. Glen hesitated. "Maybe she's a teacher." He told himself. "Why else would she be there and not in the crowd?" Something about that theory just wasn't right. A teacher wouldn't wear such revealing clothing. Sure, a skirt was passable, but a blouse? Something about her was definitely out of place. Still, she wanted something from him, so he should probably find out what it was.

As he walked closer, he noticed that no one seemed to acknowledge her presence in any way. It was like she wasn't even there. "Great... am I seeing things now?" Glen asked himself. He walked closer and noticed her smile grow wide. Her teeth looked odd. It was like they weren't human. She quickly turned around and opened the door, walking outside. Glen rolled his eyes. "What is going on here?"

He looked through the window and saw no sign of her. Did she seriously just run off without a word? He cracked open the door and looked around. She wasn't there. Glen opened the door and walked outside.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DESIRE, GLEN."

The door slammed shut behind him. Glen tried to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. It was like it was locked. Who could've possibly locked it? He turned around and saw the woman standing in front of him. She looked taller than she did before... scarier.

"What do you want?" Glen asked, annoyed, but also nervous. The woman smiled.

"I WANT TO MAKE YOUR WISH COME TRUE."

The woman's fingernails on her left hand suddenly grew longer. They looked like long, razor- sharp claws. Glen backed away in horror. How did she do that? What's she gonna do to me? His thoughts raced through his mind. He had no time to try and escape before the woman shoved her claws right through Glen's abdomen. Glen tried to scream, but he couldn't. However, he could still feel the excruciating pain. He could feel his intestines being skewered and his muscles tearing. He started coughing up blood as his mind went wild.
What is happening?! Why is she killing me?! This has to be a dream! Please be a dream! Please... I feel so...

With an upward motion, the woman's claws sliced upward through Glen's body like butter. The pain amplified for a moment before Glen felt nothing at all. Glen's body fell to the ground. The woman crouched down to Glen's body. She outstretched her hand and laid it on his chest. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and a black, viscous liquid drained from Glen's body and was absorbed into the woman's body. The pendant around her neck glowed brightly. The woman laughed maliciously.

"ANOTHER ONE ADDED TO MY COLLECTION! HUMANS ARE ALWAYS SO EASY TO DECEIVE."

***

As the group entered the gun store, the cashier sent a puzzled look their way, but continued his work nonetheless. They all split up and looked through the shelves. They mainly stuck to shotguns and pistols. They gathered up as much ammo as they could. They took it all to the counter and paid for it.

"So, what are you kids doing with all this stuff anyway?" The cashier asked. They all looked at each other, hoping one of them would come up with a good enough lie.

"Bear hunting." Brooke answered. Isaac facepalmed. The cashier shrugged and let them be on their way. The group walked outside.

"Brooke... seriously?" Isaac asked. "I didn't know what else to say!" She said, overreacting a bit.

"It doesn't matter now. Now, we gotta put this stuff in the shed first." Dylan said.

"We still need close range weapons like axes, baseball bats, and machetes." Millie said. "Well, I didn't see any of those in there." Mandy said. "I know another place we can go for that stuff." Dylan said.

As the group allowed Dylan to lead the way, the woman watched them from the rooftop.

"MY, MY. THIS IS INTRIGUING."

***

After another 30 minutes, the group finally got everything they thought they needed. They had guns, ammo, a few baseball bats and axes. They even had some nails that they could hammer into the bats.

"Alright, you four know what to do with these." Millie said, referring to Dylan, Oscar, Mandy, and Raj. Dylan nodded as they all took the bags filled with weapons and rode away.

"Now, we need to do our part. Isaac." Millie turned to Isaac. "You, Abby, and Oswald can get started on going to that factory." She directed. Isaac nodded.

"Okay, let's get this over with. I need to be home before dinner." The trio rode their bikes down the street, leaving Millie and Brooke.

"So... guess it's just us, huh? The dynamic duo..." Brooke said, trying to make conversation. "Yep. Come on, we have to go." Millie said. They both got on their bikes and prepared themselves for whatever that priest was going to tell them.

***

The ride on the trail was bumpy to say the least. Since they were in the woods, Oscar had been pretty antsy about Funtime Freddy appearing during their last trip through the woods, so he asked Dylan to take the lead.

"Shouldn't be too far now." Raj said. Dylan nodded. The silence continued for another minute before Mandy spoke up.

"You know, I've been thinking... what if we don't end this whole thing or whatever?" Mandy asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"We can't think like that. If we stick together, I'm sure it'll be easy. We're unstoppable!" Raj cheered enthusiastically, nearly losing his balance on the bike. Dylan couldn't help but shake his head at his antics.

"Yeah, well forgive me for being pessimistic, but Millie barely survived that robot. Hell, we barely survived it. Are weapons really gonna help against something like that?" Mandy continued.

"Hey, this is America. Weapons are always the answer." Oscar joked.

"Sure, maybe we can tear that bear a new one if we're lucky, but what about Afton? I mean, as somebody who's had their fair share of paranormal experiences, who's to say he's not somehow still lingering around, waiting for us to make a move. He might even be the one behind the disappearances for all we know." Mandy argued. "Good point." Oscar said.

"I'm just saying that maybe we don't know what we're getting ourselves into. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving a bunch of people and ending a decades old cycle of pain and death, but... I'm just scared we won't make it out alive to see it happen." Mandy continued.

Everyone fell silent as she finished. As they thought about it, Mandy did make a few good points. What if they couldn't survive this? What if whatever evil they were preparing to face was stronger than them? None of them wanted to die. They were just teens with their whole lives ahead of them. They all had families, hopes, dreams, things to live for. Were they really willing to risk it all for some quest to destroy a robotic furry and put ghosts to rest? Dylan cleared his throat.

"If I'm being honest with you guys... I almost said no to helping Millie with this. I'm sure a lot of us were going to say no as well... but I didn't. I'm here because Millie needs us. She's been suffering on her own because of this whole thing and we didn't even know it.  She always was a bit of a loner. That was all she knew for a long time... now, she has us. If she does this on her own... we might never see her again and nothing will change. People will still disappear and never be laid to rest, and no one would miss Millie besides us and her family. We're her friends. We have to be there for her. She's changed so much since I first met her in the cafeteria at school when I just moved here. We helped her become who she is now. We need to see this through. If you want to back out, go ahead, she'll understand, but I'm staying by her side and helping her end this." Everyone listened to his words and felt inspired by them. It gave them confidence and hope.

"What about Brooke? You love her. You would want her to be safe from all this, wouldn't you?" Mandy asked.

Dylan sighed. "I do love her. I really do... she's so kind, positive, smart... and innocent. I would give anything to keep her safe from this whole mess... but this was her choice just as much as it was mine. If I want to protect her... I guess this is the way I'll have to do it." Dylan answered. As silence fell on the group once again, Raj started pointing at something up ahead.

"There's the shed!" He spoke up. The others caught sight of the dilapidated shed, the rotting wood could easily be seen from where they were. They parked their bikes next to it and carried the bags full of weapons towards the shed. Dylan opened the door. The inside smelled musty and old, but nonetheless, it was perfect. As they left the weapons in the shed, Dylan shuddered for a moment, a wave of unease washing over him. The others took notice and looked at him with concern.

"Hey, are you alright, man?" Oscar asked. Dylan was giving him a thousand-yard stare, believing he saw a tall figure watching them from the trees before suddenly disappearing in a cloud of black mist.

"WEAPONS WILL NOT HELP YOUR ODDS, DYLAN."

"Yeah! I'm fine! Let's just get going." Dylan said, anxiously. He hastily retrieved his bike. As the others looked at each other in confusion and concern, they soon joined him and the teens left the forest, not noticing the woman sitting on a tree branch, watching them from above.

"THEIR DEVOTION IS STRONG. THIS MAY PROVE TO BE INTERESTING."

***

The trio looked at their destination from beyond the parking lot. The factory was large, yet not many cars were in a parking lot. Maybe the factory just didn't have many employees?

"Okay, so... what now?" Oswald asked.

"Now, we ask around and see if any of these people knew Dr. Tar-... Tagger... Tat-... Whatever! Let's just get to it!" Isaac said, impatiently. "You know, you really should get better with names." Oswald commented. Isaac rolled his eyes. "Oh, go fuck yourself!"

About twenty minutes passed as the trio of teens walked around the outside of the factory, asking workers trying to enjoy their lunch if any of them knew Dr. Taggart. Many said no, but others did say yes, but not personally. The minutes ticked by and Isaac only grew more frustrated.

"This is useless! Why are we wasting our time with this?!" Isaac groaned in annoyance.

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm sure we'll find something eventually." Abby said.

"Easy for you to say." Isaac said before sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm just... stressed out about all this. I was hoping we would never have to deal with something like Plushtrap ever again. Look how wrong I was about that. I always seem to get something wrong one way or another. I can't catch a break with stuff like this." Isaac said.

Oswald patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, man. Trust me, I know how it feels."

"What are we doing, man? Just look at us. We're kids and we're supposed to be like the ghostbusters or something! Isaac, Raj, and I... we barely survived that small toy! Imagine our odds against a seven-foot tall bear animatronic!" Isaac said with pessimism.

"It's not all that bad. It's not just the three of you this time. You got us now." Abby assured Isaac. "What if that's not enough?"

"That's why we're going to prepare." She reasoned.

"Yeah. I mean, I fought off something that wasn't even an animatronic or a human, and I still beat it! If I can do something like that, I'm sure we all can." Oswald said, confidently.

"Well, you're strong, Oswald. Me? I don't think so." Isaac said, hanging his head low.

"Come on! You can't think like that! If you don't think you're strong enough, that's fine. Just know that we'll be working as a team. Always. Don't you forget that." Oswald encouraged. Isaac smiled slightly.

"Yeah... sure. Let's just keep looking around." He suggested. Abby nodded.

Isaac turned to Abby. "So... do you think she'll be okay when we end this whole thing?" Isaac asked Abby, who was obviously confused by the lack of context in his question.

"Your friend... Sarah, right? You think she'll be okay when we stop whatever's happening?" He added.

"I... I don't know. You can't come back from being turned into garbage. At least, I don't think so. Still... I wish she was here. You guys probably would've liked her." Abby said, reminiscence in her tone.

"I'm... sorry about what happened. I didn't know her like you did, but I'm sure she would've fit right in with our little band of misfits." Isaac said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Maybe you're right. I wish... I just wish she enjoyed her life more." Abby said. "What do you mean?" Isaac asked.

"You see... Sarah was obsessed with being perfect, popular... beautiful. She always thought she was ugly and envied the beauty of others. She was tired of being an outcast. I tried my best to help her. I tried to tell her how much she was loved and valued, but she never listened to me. To her, beauty was all that mattered. One day, something about her was different. She looked happier than normal. I did notice that something about her hands seemed different. As the days went by, she got more and more beautiful, and she started getting the attention of the popular girls. It was like I was looking at a completely different girl. I didn't understand it, but I still tried to be happy for her. I wanted to be happy. She was finally getting what she always wanted, but I had a weird feeling about it. Next thing I knew..." Abby retold the story of her friend with sorrow evident in her voice.

"I just... I just wish I got to tell her how much I..." Abby couldn't finish the sentence before she started crying. Isaac put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey! It's okay! I'm sure it's hard. I wish I could try and understand what you're going through, but I've never lost my friends before. I don't want to either. I do know that we aren't going to let Sarah die in vain. We will find what killed her, I promise." Isaac comforted Abby.

Abby smiled at Isaac, tears running down her cheeks. She never had the chance to tell anyone her deepest feelings about that day; no one would believe her. Now, at long last, she could find comfort in others who understand her, who believe her. Maybe Isaac was right, Sarah would fit in with them. Maybe, they could've helped her see her true beauty, the way Abby did. She chuckled. "What's so funny?" Isaac asked.

"What you said... about us being a group of misfits... hmm... misfits... has a nice ring to it." She said. "We are not calling ourselves that." Isaac said.

"So, that's one vote against the name. Got it." Abby quipped.

"Hey guys. Did we ask that guy over there yet?" Oswald asked, pointing at the large man with the black hair tied into a ponytail who was currently in a food truck across the street, awaiting customers. Isaac raised an eyebrow.

"Does he even work at the factory? I don't think he'd know." Abby said, doubtfully.

"Do we have any better options? Might as well." Isaac said.

"Yeah, we've got nothing better to do, so..." Oswald added. Reluctantly, they walked towards the food truck, making sure to look both ways as they crossed the street. As they walked up to the food truck, the man sent a friendly smile their way.

"Hello there! What would you like to get? I got burgers, subs, and pepperoni rolls." The man said.

"Yeah, I'd like a- ow!" Oswald said before Isaac smacked him in the back of the head.

"Hey! What are you doing?! We need to ask him about Tatter!" Isaac whispered. Oswald rolled his eyes. "Taggart, dumbass." Isaac groaned. "Whatever! Just focus!"

The man raised an eyebrow at their antics. "Umm, we don't want anything. We just wanted to ask you a few questions." Isaac said.

"Well, make it fast, I got a business to run here." The man said, reluctantly.

"Yeah, of course! Umm, did you happen to know a man named Phineas Taggart?" Isaac asked.

The man seemed surprised to hear that name, but only for a moment. "How do you know him?" The man asked.

It then dawned on the children that they didn't have a good cover story prepared for when they eventually did find someone who could answer their questions. He mentally facepalmed himself and proceeded to think of a thousand possible excuses.

"It's for a school project. Our teacher wanted us to research bizarre incidents that happened in this town and write a report about them. We chose the incident involving Dr. Taggart's death. We were asking around and trying to find out if anyone could tell us some things about him." Abby said.

Isaac mentally sighed in relief. He wouldn't have thought of that. Now, all he had to do was hope the man would buy it.

"Can't you kids just look that up on your phones?" The man asked. "Well, you can't find everything you want to know on the internet, and we were hoping we could learn some facts about his research." Abby said, mentally praying that her excuse would work. The man sighed and leaned back a little.

"Yeah, I used to know him a little bit." He confessed. "Great! So, can you tell us a bit about him? What was he like?" Abby asked, pulling out her notebook and pencil.

"Well, he was a little... odd. Not crazy or anything like that, but just a little nutty. He always talked about how emotions were powerful and whatnot." The man said.

"Emotions? What did he mean by powerful?" Oswald asked.

"Well, he would always have these theories about emotions being more powerful than any energy on the planet. He always believed that the most powerful emotion was... uh... what was it again?" The man continued, starting to mumble to himself towards the end. The teens looked at him in anticipation.

"Was... what?" Isaac asked, eyes wide in annoyance.

The man snapped his fingers in realization. "Ah! Agony! That's the one!" He announced. The kids looked at each other. This was the lead they were looking for. Now, they just needed to learn more.

"Agony? Why agony? I mean, there's a lot of emotions. Why did he think agony was the most powerful?" Oswald asked.

"Well, I don't know why he thought that, but I do remember him explaining it to me a bit. He said that when someone was in great pain or was suffering, their pain would bleed out in a way, that pain would then spread itself into surrounding objects. He thought that this theory of his explained the concept of haunted objects. He kept telling me about all his experiments with agony. Yeah, the guy sure was a real nut." The man said in a reminiscent tone.

"Do you know what kind of experiments he was doing?" Abby asked.

"Eh, something about transferring agony into a body of some kind, some sort of robot I think. That's about all I know." The man said.

The kids got what they wanted, and were more than surprised by what they heard. They needed to talk about this with the others.

"Thanks. We'll get going now. Have a good day!" Abby said, running off as Isaac followed suit.

"Alright, you kids take care now, and make sure y'all get an A on that report!" The man called out to them. As Oswald was about to join his friends, he suddenly turned around and went back to the truck.

"So, umm... about those pepperoni rolls..."

"This is big!" Isaac said to Abby. "I know! I mean, this explains so much!" Abby said. As they were about to share their theories, Oswald came running back with a pepperoni roll in his hand. The two of them looked at Oswald in bewilderment.

"Seriously?!" Isaac said to Oswald.

"What?! I was hungry! I didn't get to eat lunch today!" Oswald defended himself.

"Well, sorry that our early dismissal from school interferes with your lunch time!" Isaac said, sarcastically. "Apology accepted." Oswald said.

"Guys, we need to focus! That whole theory on agony, that explains how Funtime Freddy is sentient!" Abby said in amazement. "And why the Plushtrap chaser was trying to kill us! These animatronics are energized by agony, a negative emotion! It makes sense for them to be so hostile when they're fueled by an emotion like that!" Isaac said.

Their minds were blown away by the revelations that one simple theory revealed to them. "Guys, what if this theory really is false?" Oswald asked.

"It has to be real! There can't be another explanation!" Isaac said.

"Well, we still have ghosts floating around possessing things. Millie literally said this when she talked about the Stitchwraith." Oswald said.

"Wait... what if both the agony theory and ghosts being real is correct?" Abby interjected. "What do you mean?" Oswald asked, Isaac sharing the same curiosity.

"Think about it, maybe some objects like the Plushtrap toy and Funtime Freddy are fueled by agony, while other objects like the Stitchwraith are possessed by spirits. It's the best of both worlds." Abby said. "That... might make sense." Isaac said, nodding his head. 

Oswald's eyes widened as he was beginning to piece something together in his mind. "Wait... the Stitchwraith! Millie said that Phineas was the one who made the Stitchwraith! That's why he made it! Because-"

"Because it was one of his agony experiments!" Isaac interrupted with the same amount of astonishment in his voice as Oswald. "Exactly!" Oswald said, taking a bite of his pepperoni roll. He moaned in satisfaction at the taste. "This is really good! You guys should definitely try one!"

Before Isaac could say anything else, Dylan, Mandy, Oscar, and Raj found them and pulled over next to them.

"Any luck?" Mandy asked. "Actually... we learned something you guys might want to know about." Oswald said, confidently.

As the group conversed with each other, the woman watched them, perched on top of a streetlight, completely invisible to anyone who happened to look in her direction.

"THEY STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. THIS PUZZLE IS MUCH LARGER THAN THEY THINK. WILL THEY BE ABLE TO PIECE IT TOGETHER, OR WILL THEY DESCEND INTO MADNESS? THIS IS QUITE AN INTERESTING SHOW SO FAR. I'LL LET THEM HAVE THEIR FUN FOR NOW. I NEED TO VISIT SOMEONE ELSE."

The woman then disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke, hungry for new prey. Perhaps, an unsuspecting partygoer would do the trick?

END OF CHAPTER XXII